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Is vaping safe? Why UK scientists are calling a new study on the effects of e-cigarettes “irresponsible”
US research that has said vaping can lead to “worrisome changes” in blood pressure and heart function has drawn criticism from British scientists who told i the evidence remains that e-cigarettes are significantly safer than smoking.
Senior academics in the UK expressed dismay after suggestions by a US team of researchers that measurements of heart rate and blood pressure cast doubt on findings that smoking is much more dangerous than vaping. Scientists at King’s College London, who recently carried out the largest review of its kind into vaping, were “in despair” at the coverage the US analyses has generated, i has been told.
The US team had compared cardiovascular function in people who vape, people who smoke and people who did not use any nicotine and said they found “significant negative health impacts” among participants after vaping and smoking traditional cigarettes. The research team said the analyses, to be presented at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions this week, cast doubt on presumptions that vaping is significantly safer than smoking. However, UK-based scientists were critical of how the research, at abstract stage, had been introduced.
Professor Peter Hajek, from the Wolfson Institute of Population Health at Queen Mary University of London, told i the US researchers had been “irresponsible”. He said: “Like a number of such previous reports, the heart rate part is just noting a well-known short-term effect of nicotine that accompanies all types of stimulation. The same effect is generated by watching a thriller or a football match or sitting an exam. Drinking a cup of coffee actually produces a larger response of much longer duration. The key heart health risks of smoking are not caused by nicotine but by other chemicals in tobacco smoke that are not present in e-cigarette vapour. The slant put on the finding is irresponsible as it can put smokers off switching to a much safer alternative. The bit on exercise is not comparing like with like, vapers are normally ex-smokers and no effects of previous smoking or other differences between people who do and do not smoke, including differences in exercise levels, were controlled for.”
Dr Debbie Robson, a senior lecturer in tobacco harm reduction at King’s and one of the report’s authors, said: “The levels of exposure to cancer causing and other toxicants are drastically lower in people who vape compared with those who smoke. Helping people switch from smoking to vaping should be considered a priority if the Government is to achieve a smoke-free 2030 in England.”
Source: i News, 1 November 2022
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Scotland: NHS Lanarkshire urges pregnant women to utilise stop smoking service
NHS Lanarkshire’s Quit Your Way service is offering free and specialist support to pregnant women and their families who want to quit smoking.
Dedicated advisers work with pregnant women to provide tailored support, encouragement and free nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) which are safe during pregnancy, as well as one-to-one video or phone appointments.
There are many benefits of stopping smoking during pregnancy including reduced risk of having a miscarriage or the baby being stillborn, reduced risk of sudden unexpected death in infancy (SUDI), previously known as cot death and saving money - just a month of not smoking could save around £200.
Alexandra Usurelu from Motherwell, who successfully quit smoking with support from NHS Lanarkshire’s Quit Your Way service, said: “There were three reasons I wanted to quit smoking; first of all because I was pregnant and my baby could be born smaller, secondly because cigarettes are expensive and third, because I wanted to be healthier. I didn’t smoke during my first pregnancy, but after I had my baby I started smoking again because of stress. I found out about Quit Your Way through my midwife during my second pregnancy and I’ve now been smoke-free for over 12 months since having my baby. I’m originally from Poland, so if English isn’t your first language like me, everything is arranged with an interpreter .”
Source: Daily Record, 1 November 2022
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Australia: Northern Territories health department purchased cigarettes for smokers at Howard Springs quarantine centre, FOI documents reveal
Australia's Northern Territory's health department (NT Health), which has a smoke-free policy, purchased hundreds of packets of cigarettes for smokers isolating at the Howard Springs quarantine centre, emails obtained by the ABC reveal. The Howard Springs facility, also known as the Centre for National Resilience (CNR), served as Australia's leading quarantine complex during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Operated largely by NT Health, the centre housed more than 63,800 people, including about 41,800 domestic residents, as well as 22,000 Australians repatriated from overseas, between July 2020 and June 2022.
While most people residing at the facility purchased their own cigarettes using click and collect services, internal departmental emails show NT Health supplied cigarettes to some smokers between November last year and at least February this year, despite NT Health having a smoke-free policy aimed at "reducing tobacco related harm in the workforce and to our clientele", which bans staff, contractors and visitors from smoking at NT hospitals or health centres.
Source: ABC News, 1 November 2022
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